Maps & Map Apps!

Let me start by saying it is my personal belief that you should never trust your safety to someone else. That goes for every aspect of bushwalking but is particularly true when it comes to navigation. Learn how to read a map and use a compass. Learn how to use electronic and paper navigational aids. After all, a map on a flat phone is of no use to you! Navigation also involves learning how to read the land. You can learn some of these things by joining bushwalking or orienteering clubs BUT my recommendation is to do a formal course. Why? Because they are there to ensure you become proficient.

I did my map and compass course through MountainSphere Adventures and Education. It is as a direct result of Ashley’s training that I am confident in off track navigation. I cannot recommend him highly enough. Just do it.

All things paper.

Any good bushman will extol the virtues of paper maps, me included. Electronic aids are all well and good UNTIL the battery goes flat or they malfunction. My first choice is always a paper map with electronic aids as a backup. Using a paper map also ensures you pay more attention to “reading the land” rather than just following a dot on a screen.

I photocopy my maps and take the copies out into the bush for me. Even in map pouches I found my precious maps were getting ruined. Paper copies of original maps are not always available now so even more reason to preserve them. I simply use the photocopiers at Office Works and the “fine detail” setting. I carry my maps in a map pouch but you could just laminate them if you prefer.

It important to take the whole map (or a copy of the whole map) along with you not just a small section. If you get lost and have only taken a snippet of the map you will not be able to triangulate your location! Plus you may need the map key/gridlines and magnetic/grid declination figure. My memory is not good enough to hold all that and still navigate efficiently. Yours might be.

Mark your intended route out on your maps but understand that always in bushwalking flexibility is required due to changes in the landscape that may not be reflected on the map.

All things electronic.

I use and carry a few electronic back ups. These are my back ups only as if for some reason I lose my phone or the battery runs flat on my InReach I need to be able to figure out where I am and how to get home! As unlikely as it is for a flat battery or a lost phone, never say never. In the event of the unlikely happening my map and compass are my back up. That said, here is a short run down on the Map Apps I use.